Writers On The Move

What's Stopping You Writing ?

What stops you writing?

Writer and marketer Jenn Dize asked me that question today in a new 30-day course on web writing--Making Waves as a Web Writer.

And it made me think. I thought I knew--procrastination. But when I analysed why I was procrastinating, I came up with something new

One of my faults is that without a deadline, I write too slowly--not a bad thing in itself provided it equates to better, more thoughtful writing. But when it leads to losing focus, ideas blowing in the wind, and too few projects ever completed, then it is time to tackle the problem.

As freelance writers, our income depends on how much we write--how many reports, articles or books we produce. We need to manage our output without falling victim to burnout.

The assignment was to face the problem and do something about it. I had pinpointed procrastination as a weakness but the realization that writing too slowly was the main factor stopping my writing came as a surprise.

"Do something about it," said Jenn, who is very hands on as a motivator, always at the other end of an email.

How to Write Faster

I searched the Internet and found lots of advice and help. An article by Dany Iny pointed out the importance of planning. I know this but still jump fast into anything which is teetering toward a deadline. The article, of course, also led me to investigate the website, join the newsletter and download the free book.

Yes I know the article says not to do things like that but the book is going to help me finish what I start--honest.

As I am battling to finish a novella by June, I was delighted to find K.M.Weiland's series on character arcs--especially useful for fiction writers.
Knowing what you're doing speeds up working patterns. Having a way of structuring work helps divide it into headed sections and writing content to match headings keeps it from straying too far off the point.

And yes, I investigated the website, joined the newsletter and downloaded the free book all about crafting unforgettable characters. Well, I need to do that, right?

Joanna Penn's podcasts offer 75 hours of writing, marketing and publishing advice. Plenty of potential for procrastination here but liberated by nailing my flaw, I am too enthused at the thought of writing to stop for long. I did however have a little look around the website, signed up for the newsletter and picked up the Author 2.0 Blueprint. After all, I am about to be an author when I finish my book.

And then there was Holly Lisle on pacing dialogue and action scenes--your story at your speed.

At your speed, perhaps. But not mine. My speed is somewhat slower than that of a lackadaisical snail. My story would take a century to unroll if left to itself. But if I don't know about pacing, I risk far too many wasted words and wasted words really do slow the writing down.

I know what you think--and no, I didn't. I already have Holly's newsletter and free book.

I then found myself tempted by How To Publish More Kindle eBooks Faster: How To Write 7,000 Or More Words Every Day by Marc Guberti . It was free on Amazon today. Irresistible. Will it work? I'll let you know--when I can spare the time from writing to read it.

Useful Websites

http://writetodone.com

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com

For the first in the character arcs series:
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/02/character-arcs-1.html

If you change the number after character-arcs- you will find all the articles in the series. The latest so far is number 10

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

http://hollylisle.com/

For news and reviews of Making Waves as a Web Writer, visit my blog.

Anne Duguid is a freelance content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and she passes on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips from time to time at Slow and Steady Writers

Computer and Internet Safety - Not Just for Writers Part 2

Last month, I wrote about the end of Microsoft’s support of Windows XP. Since then, I found a few additional articles that my readers might find of interest.

Lifehacker provides information on upgrading your old computer. I tried doing that with mine and it did not turn out well. If you wish to keep your old computer, I suggest reading the following article: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-move-on-after-windows-xp-without-giving-up-your-1556573928.

However, I recommend buying a new computer. Clark Howard and Kim Komando offer some advice here

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/technology/get-new-computer-if-youre-running-windows-xp/nfXNP/ and here http://www.komando.com/tips/247613/3-tech-products-on-deep-discount-in-april/2.

If you buy a new computer with Windows 8, you might also need to buy a new router. Check out www.windows.com for recommendations.

What did you decide to do?

Happy writing!

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is working on her first children’s book.

Email Marketing and Free Email Services Warning

By Karen Cioffi

If you’re an email marketer, and you should be, you should be paying attention to what’s going on with the free email services and your subscriber lists.

The first to play havoc on their email customers is Yahoo.

Yahoo recently made a change to its DMARC ((Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) Policy, according to iContact.

What does this mean for you?

Well, maybe nothing. But, if you send your subscriber emails through email services, such as iContact, Yahoo is bouncing the majority of them. They’ve bounced about 80% of my last four subscriber emails.

YIKES!

This in itself is a problem, but add to this that there was NO notification, unless you were looking for it, DOUBLE YIKES!

So, email marketers who found out after the fact, like me, had to resend their emails, which means about 20% of my subscribers got duplicate email content for four messages.

My sincere apologies to those who did receive duplicates. Unfortunately, 80% of those subscribing to The Writing World didn’t receive the emails, so I needed to resend them.

iContact notes that Yahoo’s purpose is to prevent suspicious or phishing attacks. So, if your ‘From Address’ is tied to yahoo.com and it’s not sent from one of their IPs, your email will be bounced.

Just the Beginning

As with everything online, there are usually no solitary acts. Yahoo may be the first to implement this anti-spam bounce policy, but be assured that the others will follow.

The Solution

If you are using free email services like Yahoo and Gmail for your email marketing, change your “From Address” to a paid service, use a domain that you control, one that’s connected to your website.

If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your email marketing service for help.

Hope this is helpful,

Karen Cioffi, the Article Writing Doctor
Prescription for Your Content Marketing Needs
Content Writing Training for Small Businesses, Solopreneurs, and Health Professionals

~~~~~

Procrastination Styles - Results from Survey

Last month I asked our readers to complete the procrastination style survey . Thanks to everyone who participated in this survey. We had over 100 respondents! The pie chart below breaks-out the percentage for each procrastination style.

Many respondents indicated their procrastination style was a combination of styles.
The largest group of respondents were Dreamers, followed by Crisis-makers, then Perfectionists.

25% of respondents were male; 75% female

The only category that appeared to have a correlation related to gender was defier. A greater percentage of males were defiers than females.

44% of the respondents were under 30

39% of the respondents were over 50

Over-givers crossed all age groups except 20 and under.

Although different forces drive each procrastination style, structure is the one tool that helps keep any procrastinator on track. Scheduling and tracking your writing time on your calendar can increase your productivity. Start with manageable time expectations--something you know you can achieve. This sets the stage to keep your personal commitments. Slowly build your time commitment. This structure will keep you focused.

Try this for two or three weeks, and see if it impacts your writing. I'd love to hear from anyone who tries this strategy or already schedules their writing time.

Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach. For more information check out:

http://theadvantagepoint.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/do_north

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz

Some Taglines that Work: Part II

Last month we had a look at taglines, what they are, and what they're meant to achieve. I encouraged you to try your hand at creating your own, if you hadn't already done so. This month I thought we'd take a look at some author's taglines that really work well.

You wouldn't believe how long it took me to find 10 effective author taglines! Does this mean the authors haven't bothered to work on one? Or is it that they are not using them?

I suspect more of the latter. I admit that is something I haven't been good at either. I use the tagline as the name of my newsletter, The Write to Inspire and Encourage. But when I looked at my websites I discovered ShirleyCorder.com welcomes you to the website where writers and readers receive inspiration and encouragement. And RiseAndSoar.com says, Shirley Corder offers inspiration and encouragement to any who are negotiating the Cancer Valley, whether as patients or as people who care. So in both cases, the thought is there, but the tagline is not. (Note to self: Make use of your hard-sought-for tagline!)

So here are ten author taglines that I think work. Take a look at them and see if you think the author's taglines (in bold) fit the type of writing (in italics).

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist well-known for her trademark "Seatbelt Suspense" books. The majority of her books cover harrowing though Christian crime thrillers. Her tagline says it all: Don't forget to breathe...

Karen Kingsbury, often described as America’s favorite inspirational novelist writes fiction that links her readers to real life crisis situations. Her tagline is: Life-changing Fiction.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson who writes suspenseful mysteries seasoned with romance, humor and faith writes under the tagline: Endless Adventure—Timeless Truth.

Cynthia Herron writes heartfelt, homespun, contemporary Christian romance novels. "A hopeless romantic at heart, Cynthia enjoys penning stories about ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances." (Taken from her website.) Her tagline is Heartfelt, Homespun fiction.

Heather Thurmeier writes "sweet, funny romances that capture your heart!" (Review by NYT and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Probst.) Her tagline is Heart, Humor, and a Happily Ever After.

Pat Ballard (with the nickname of Queen of Rubenesque Romances) writes books for plus-size women. Her comment on her website says, "The message is for all women to love ourselves as we are and stop trying to be something we were never meant to be." Romance novels with big, beautiful heroines.

Ciara Knight writes edgy fiction that always has a ray of hope. Her tagline? Defy the Dark.

Clive Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist who writes thriller novels. His tagline sums it up: The Grandmaster of Adventure.

Ali Cross says, I’ve always been a dreamer. When I would tell my family what new adventure I wanted to take on, they’d roll their eyes and say something like, “Oh yeah? Well let us know how that works out for you.” Her tagline? Stories that transcend the ordinary.

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author who has a passion for both God and romance. Her tagline sums it up: Passion With a Purpose.

So what do you think? Are there any that you think stand out from the others? Or are they any you don't think work?

Next month, same time, same place, we'll take a look at some taglines that definitely don't work—and why.

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her sojourn in the cancer valley.

Please visit Shirley's Write to inspire and encourage website or at RiseAndSoar.com, where she has the Write to inspire and encourage those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook.

P.S. Does the attempted use of my tagline in my bio work? Yes? No? Help!

Writing for Children: 3 Tips to Make Your Books More Appealing to the Library and School Markets

Writing for children is a very competitive business. And while most children's authors are available for book signings at libraries, bookstores, and schools, there are a couple of additional things EVERY children's author needs to do in order to make their books more appealing to the library and school markets. After all, teachers and school librarians account for a great percentage of children's book sales. Why not cash in on these ready markets?

Here's how:

1. Before you even write your book, figure out several ways it can tie in to the school curriculum for your intended readership.

2. Teachers and librarians also love to be able to use a tradebook to teach content ACROSS the curriculum. If you write a book about the Civil War, for example, it's pretty obvious how educators can tie the book to the social studies curriculum. But figure out ways they can also use your book to teach other subject areas like science, math, language arts, etc.

3. Create study guides for your books and post them to your website, where teachers and librarions can download them, or offer to provide the guides for teachers or librarians who purchase your book(s). Again, guides that provide activities across the curriculum will be very appealing to teachers and school librarians. Educators will also expect the suggested activities in your study guides to align with state education standards (common core standards), so go online to your state's Department of Education to get the common core standards for all subjects at all grade levels. Once you look at these standards, you'll get some ideas as to the types of activities you can create for your study guides.

In today's competitive world, children's authors need to do everything they can to widen the appeal of their books. These 3 tips will help you do that.

Suzanne Lieurance is an author, freelance writer, certified professional life coach and writing coach, speaker and workshop presenter. She has written over two dozen published books and hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines, and other publications.

Lieurance helps children's book authors and illustrators get the word out about their books through the author showcase at the National Writing for Children Center.

Creatively Dreaming

Last week my husband asked me, "Don't all authors only have one book in them?"

I think I almost snapped at him, "No, the saying is all people have at least one book in them.
Writers have too many to count and they just keep coming."

The reason I might have almost snapped, well everything is an opportunity for another project. Which is why it's such a struggle for some of us. We hear a snippet of conversation in a grocery store and it's the beginning of a novel or the scene for a great character. We see a movie and think, what if they'd gone a different direction? What would that have done to the story? I have so many ideas, and so little time to flesh them out. Right now my idea notebook is full, and I found my last one in a drawer a couple of weeks ago and thought, hmm, there's some good stuff in there.

As a creative writer, I'm finding that I'm constantly inspired - what causes me the most challenge is the 'behind' in the chair kind of work that is required to get them completed. Or even the 'which one should I work on now' kind of thought. Which is why I'm creatively dreaming these days.

Do you have a writing dream? Mine is a cottage or cabin far from everyday life. A place without internet or television, but with running water and heat. I think I could get by with just that.

So why don't you find me on a mountain top? That's a great question. One I'm still asking myself. I guess to some degree I feel selfish doing something that brings me so much pleasure. Your work shouldn't make you that happy. Right? Wrong!

But creatively dreaming inspires me to exciting realms of new thought. Places where I can be and do anything. It's better than reading a good book, only because I can determine the direction I will go, and even though right now I'm also working a 'real job,' creatively dreaming means I'm always ready to get to work when the moment presents itself.

The best news is, that creatively dreaming doesn't mean you can't have and live any of your other dreams. So today, start dreaming.

_______________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, House of Glass, Book 2 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook